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Tuesday, July 3, 2018
CNS Buries Rosenstein's Defense Of Himself Against GOP Attacks
Topic: CNSNews.com

If you had read most of the media regarding last week's appearance by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein before the House Judiciary Committee, you would have read that Rosenstein acquitted himself nicely against relentless Republican attacks on his work and reputation, in particular accusastions by GOP Rep. Jim Jordan.

If you had read CNSNews.com, you read something else entirely -- a highly cherry-picked selection of testimony designed to make Rosenstein look bad and his GOP inquisitors look important:

  • Susan Jones makes Rosenstein look like a weaselin an article featuring Rosenstein noting that, under questioning from GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis, that he is "not permitted to discuss any classified information."
  • Jones went the weasel route again in an article highlighting his comment, under questioning from GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, that "since he wasn't working for the Justice Department on July 31, 2016 when the FBI launched its Trump-Russia investigation, he only knows what he's been told by the FBI."
  • An article by Melanie Arter touted how "Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) gave a five-minute speech, but didn’t ask a single question when it was his turn to question Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein."

None of these articles feature any questioning from Democratic members of the committee, nor do the mention the back-and-forth between Rosenstein and Jordan.

CNS waited until the next day to note the Rosenstein-Jordan back-and-forth. And while most other outlets noted how out of control Jordan got -- he referenced conspiracy theories he had seen on Fox News and accused Rosenstein of trying to subpoena phone calls, with Rosenstein retorting that Jordan was trying to "attack me personally" -- Arter chose to present the exchange as drily as possible in transcript form without highlighting any of the above or anything else that made Jordan look bad.

Arter also refused to include any questioning from Democrats in her article, though she made sure to complain that the Rosenstein-Jordan exchange "was repeatedly interrupted by Democrats on the committee."

CNS appears to have once again forgotten its mission statement to "fairly present all legitimate sides of a story," since Jones and Arter made no attempt whatsoever to fairly present Rosenstein's side of the story -- strange, since both are longtime CNS employees. It's as if that mission statement is window dressing designed to falsely portray CNS as a legitimate news operation instead of the highly biased pro-Trump PR shop it has become.


Posted by Terry K. at 12:41 AM EDT
Monday, July 2, 2018
AIM Devolves Into Just Another Pro-Trump Website
Topic: Accuracy in Media

Accuracy in Media has been doing a major reboot of itself over the past year. Conspiracy-happy right-wing ranter Cliff Kincaid disappeared for reasons neither he nor AIM have have yet to explain publicly, and after months of relying on freelancers and anonymous writers of dubious accuracy and Kincaid-esque conspiracy-mongering, it has settled on a new staff led by Carrie Sheffield, who has the title of "national editor." Sheffield's AIM bio leads with her TV and media hits, which probably tells us something about the direction Don Irvine is looking to take AIM -- more media-savvy, less nutball.

In practice, though, AIM is showing itself to be just another pro-Trump website. For instance, a June 22 piece by Sheffield, which takes the Trump White House line that it's the media's fault for noticing Melania Trump's jacket:

Even as mainstream media reporters portray the Trump administration as lacking substance and a substantive policy focus, the New York Times chose to give Page A1 placement of a speculative story by Vanessa Friedman, its fashion director and chief fashion critic, criticizing the jacket that first lady Melania Trump wore before and after a tour of a children’s shelter in Texas.

[...]

Mrs. Trump’s spokeswoman said that “There was no hidden message,” yet Friedman wrote that the First Lady’s fashion choice “may have backfired,” an analysis displaying the most common response among the mainstream media: to project sinister motives despite no evidence.

It's telling that Sheffield never outright states the message that was emblazoned across the back of Melania's jacket -- "I don't really care, do U?" -- that is, in fact, the hard-to-miss "evidence" upon which things were projected; she only offers a partial quote in the final paragraph buried in a quote from the article she's attacking.

Sheffield also makes the partisan mistake of treating whatever Melania's office says as the final word on the subject, as if we should ascribe only pure motives to, and accurate statements from, an office whose function is to protect the first lady. We suspect AIM never took anything that came out of the Obama White House as the final word on anything.

Sheffield's approach is little different from what AIM's better-funded (and even more pro-Trump) rival, the Media Research Center, did.

In trading Kincaid's craziness for a somewhat more professional, highly Trump-protective approach from Sheffield and Brian McNicoll, AIM turns down the heat but doesn't add light. It has gone from lacking credibility to being merely boring, which may not be an impovement.


Posted by Terry K. at 10:27 PM EDT
The MRC's Nasty War on Jim Acosta
Topic: Media Research Center

If there's one journalist whom the Media Research Center sees as a threat to President Trump, it's CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta. It seems that every time Acosta appears on TV, the MRC has a post designed to denigrate and belittle him for failing to be a Trump sycophant.

For instance, a July 1 post by Nicholas Fondacaro rants about Acosta's alleged "out of control shouting, grandstanding, and childish antics," insisting at he was "acting all self-righteous" and "indignantly proclaimed" his need to ask questions of the president. That kind of biased, negative language to describe Acosta is a key part of what the MRC does to delegitimize Acosta for doing his job.

The MRC also cheers every time Acosta is attacked in other forums: For instance, Scott Whitlock gleefully transcribed White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' insult to Acosta that "I know it's hard for you to understand even short sentences," and Curtis Houck happily reported how a crowd at a pro-Trump rally heckled "carnival barker" Acosta.

We've gone through the MRC archives to see what other belittling language the MRC has hurled at Acosta in the first half of 2018 alone:

  • "With so many possible selections, it's hard to come up with a worst-of list to rank the most pathetic attempts by CNN's Jim Acosta to pose as an oh-so-tough reporter." -- Tom Blumer, June 29
  • "carnival barker ... he fancied himself the most honest, righteous man in America." -- Curtis Houck, June 25
  • "There’s no news in any of Acosta’s comments. These days, he appears on CNN to attack Republicans and opine on issues." -- Scott Whitlock, May 30
  • "Acosta’s fragile ego has been wounded before, with the aggrieved correspondent taking to social media to whine about not being called on." -- Kyle Drennen, May 17
  • "Sanders called out Acosta’s arrogance. ...  He then continued to play the victim." -- Curtis Houck, April 25
  • "When one thinks of liberal reporters who relish showing off at White House press briefings, three individuals who come to mind are CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta and CNN political analysts Brian Karem and April Ryan. ... the petulant Acosta." -- Curtis Houck, April 23
  • "CNN’s infamously incomparable White House correspondent Jim Acosta." -- Curtis Houck, April 11
  • "CNN's perpetually aggrieved Jim Acosta. ... As usual, Acosta is wrong."-- Tom Blumer, April 3
  • "Acosta is 'abused,' he's not the abuser. He's 'reporting,' not editorializing. That's bad enough. But [The Daily Beast's Lloyd] Grove began with the Fakest of News -- Acosta claiming that his showboating routine is oh-so-uncomfortable for him to uncork. ... People have gotten weary of Acosta, who also acts like a reality-TV star, the diva who everyone roots against." -- Tim Graham, March 12
  • CNN’s Jim Acosta threw a hissy fit following yet another White House press briefing where he wasn’t called on to ask a question. ... [Sean Spicer said on 'Hannity' that Jim Acosta is a carnival barker in the pressroom that is both clueless and classless." -- Nicholas Fondacaro, March 6
  • "As we’ve learned since the beginning of the 2016 election, CNN’s Jim Acosta has emerged as perhaps the most melodramatic and self-centered liberal journalists to ever grace the airwaves. ... As this writer reminded Acosta on Twitter, he’s once again shown that he’s not able to realize that the world doesn’t revolve around him." -- Curtis Houck, March 5 (under the headline "What A Bitter, Sad Man")
  • "Then came the Acosta Lecture, which really should have had some pompous-sounding music underneath it." -- Tim Graham, Feb. 7
  • "CNN’s Jim Acosta took a break to whinge about the President’s brief jab at the press during the event. ... After that whine fest, Acosta went on to give Obama credit for Trump’s economic growth." -- Kristine Marsh, Jan. 26
  • "CNN's Jim Acosta has had a rough four days. It's hard not to take some pleasure in that situation, given the Chief White House Correspondent's habitual rudeness and petulance with President Trump, and with his representatives during White House press briefings. ... If there was a Guinness World Record for most self-important, self-absorbed, unaccomplished reporter in Washington, Jim Acosta would be its holder, hands-down." --  Tom Blumer, Jan. 22
  • "Acosta debased his already self-centered act by playing the role of sycophant on Friday morning for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) by tangling with Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney over basic facts about Senate procedure. ... CNN hack." -- Curtis Houck, Jan. 19
  • "As if their biased outbursts on CNN weren’t enough, chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta and political analyst April Ryan got the chance to unleash more of their rage at President Trump ... Acosta answered first, automatically going to the most extreme ... We’ve seen this behavior before from Acosta." -- Kristine Marsh, Jan. 18
  • "In the third White House press briefing since his promotion to CNN Chief White House Correspondent, Jim Acosta was promptly burned on Thursday by Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in regards to CNN’s ratings in response to Acosta’s question about what appeared to be contradictory Trump tweets about the FISA program. ... A smirk went across Acosta’s face before gathering himself up to reply ... Acosta was apoplectic afterward on CNN Newsroom." -- Curtis Houck, Jan. 11

Houck -- apparently the MRC's designated Acosta-hater -- also ended 2017 with a post compiling what he claimed were "the Top Ten Jaw-Dropping Jim Acosta Meltdowns from 2017," adding: "In 2017, CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta gave viewers free doctorates in how to become showboaters and throw hissy fits.

This is all on top of Houck mocking Acosta for demanding that people like Houck quote him in context -- which Houck did in the most derisive way only after being shamed into it.


Posted by Terry K. at 2:35 PM EDT
Updated: Monday, July 2, 2018 2:53 PM EDT
WND Paints Corrupt Ex-Congressman As A Victim of the 'Deep State,' Lobbies Trump for Pardon
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily loves Steve Stockman so much that it effectively served as the PR shop flr the right-wing congressman while in office and running for re-election. Stockman repaid the favor by sending money WND's way in the form of buying copies of an anti-Obama book by then-reporter Aaron Klein to give away to his congressional colleagues. When Stockman was convicted earlier this year on 23 counts related to financial crimes, WND editor Joseph Farah rushed to his defense, insisting that "There’s not a corrupt bone in his body. Don’t believe anything else you read about this case anywhere – including Fox News, which hung him out to dry."

Now, WND is cranking up the conspiracy machine, as a June 24 article by Bob Unruh paints Stockman as the victim of the "Deep State" and lobbies President Trump to pardon him:

Former Texas Congressman Steve Stockman, having been accused of using money from mega-donors for personal and campaign expenses, was convicted in April by a Houston jury on 23 counts of financial crimes and sent to prison. Case closed, right?

Maybe not. While his lawyers and family have promised multiple appeals of the verdicts delivered after a trial during which multiple defense witnesses simply were disallowed, the case is also attracting a wider kind of attention.

For one thing, a recent WND online poll, conducted after President Trump announced the pardon of conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, gave more than a dozen options as to who should be the next person Trump would pardon – names ranging from Hillary Clinton to Harvey Weinstein to Jonathan Pollard to Jack Abramoff to Martha Stewart.

Stewart got 5 percent of the votes, “Everyone being probed by Mueller” got about 25 percent.

But Stockman got the most votes: 53 percent.

[...]

Stockman himself has blamed the case against him on the “Deep State,” referring to established bureaucrats who largely run government.

Patti Stockman told WND she cannot comment on what his lawyers plan next, regarding an appeal or further action, but she just observed that the “Deep State” – whose attempts to take down President Trump Americans are witnessing daily – goes very, very deep indeed.

It’s not just the Loretta Lynches, James Comeys and others, she said, but the entire ranks of federal bureaucrats working with a political agenda, she said.

Needless to say, Unruh doesn't spend very much time examining the offenses for which Stockman was found guilty; instead, he goes for more conspiracy mongering, "The family website says the attack on the former congressman was orchestrated by the very IRS (as well as the public integrity division of the DOJ) that earlier had tried to throttle tea party organizations in opposition to Obama.

Unruh also dutifully parrots his boss, quoting Farah's statement that "I hope President Trump pardons Steve Stockman like he pardoned Scooter Libby."

Missing, however, is any objective poirtrayal of the prosecution's side of the case, which tells us WND is still not into the factual-journalism thing after its years of conspiracy-mongering nearly killed it earlier this year.


Posted by Terry K. at 1:13 PM EDT
Sunday, July 1, 2018
MRC Defends the Indefensible: Melania Trump's Jacket
Topic: Media Research Center

Melania Trump wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words "I really don't care, do U?" on her way to visit immigrant children in Texas was such a disaster that CNSNews.com reporter and normally loyal Trump sycophant Susan Jones called her out on it. In a June 22 "news" article, Jones lamented the jacket was a "major distraction" from the trip and, perhaps more importantly, "The media did indeed focus on her jacket and the odd message it sent." Being a Trump sycophant, she quickly got back on message, declaring in the fifth paragraph of her article that she was "turning from her wardrobe to her actual words."

Jones' lament, however, didn't make it down the hall to the rest of her Media Research Center colleagues,  which did their usual thing in attacking anyone who criticized Melania's fashion choice.

Nicholas Fondacaro complained that "the gossip-prone media spen[t] a considerable about of time trying to divine the secret meaning of the wardrobe choice and there were those who suggested she was saying that to the kids." He went on to huff: "This kind of wild speculation about the meaning of Melania’s outfits is a common narrative when the media trying to attack this administration. ... They must pick whichever explanation they think is more damaging." Of course, the words across the back of Melania's jacket are pretty unambiguous, so divining a meaning isn't terribly difficult.

Fondacaro said nothing about the inappropriateness of the message on the jacket.

Randy Hall similarly whined about the media coverage of Melania's jacket, this time by Stephen Colbert. Like Fondacaro, he found nothing to complain about regarding the words on the jacket and, like Fondacaro, portrayed it as yet another example of anti-Trump bias instead of something deserving of criticism even if her husband wasn't a Republican: "This incident reinforces the notion that as long as the Trumps are in the White House, any member of the administration -- or the family -- is fair game for left-wing commentators, including Colbert and the liberal “analysts” at CNN.

Ryan Foley surprisingly averred that Melania's jacket choice was "controversial" -- then slipped into the usual MRC mode of complaining that people in the media talked about said controversy, blaming the media instead of Melania: "While Mrs. Trump probably could have chosen to wear a different jacket, or no jacket all because of the warm weather, the media once again proved that they could not resist blowing the situation out of proportion; making a mountain out of a molehill. The media will continue to portray the Trump Administration as heartless and cruel as they continue fanning the flames that divide the country regarding immigration all the way to the midterm elections."

This is the same MRC, by the way, that regularly went off on the media every time someone said something nice about Michelle Obama's wardrobe -- and she never wore anything as "controversial" as Melania's jacket.


Posted by Terry K. at 3:59 PM EDT
Updated: Sunday, July 1, 2018 9:07 PM EDT
WND Columnist Frets Abortion Killing Too Many 'Western' (Read: White, Christian) People
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Racially motiviated right-wing writers like to work up outrage of the idea of "demographic winter," in which white Christian Westerners allegedly decimated by low birth rates and abortion are replaced by swarthy Third World Muslim immigrants -- all while speaking in code words and euphemisms in order to hide the explicit racial aspect. Hanne Nabintu Herland is the latest to tackle this -- still speaking in code words, of course -- in her June 20 WorldNetDaily column:

Since legalizing the woman’s right to remove her own offspring, the fertility rate has dropped dramatically in the West, with perplexing consequences. This is the irony: Many countries in Europe now import approximately the same number of immigrant workers as the number of abortions. The generation that was supposed to do the job simply is not there. They are replaced by large-scale import of Muslim and other immigrant groups who love children and regard these as a gift from God. Since atheist feminists have worked so hard to implement disdain for their own offspring, other and stronger groups naturally take over and form new dynasties in the West. Why complain about immigration? It is the direct consequence of the desired childlessness.

The West has, with the help of the suicidal progressive movement, caused its own decline. Italy has the lowest birth rates in 150 years, with a 1.4 percent fertility rate, Denmark 1.7 percent, Switzerland 1.5 percent, Portugal 1.2 percent and Germany 1.4 perent, according to 2016 numbers from World Bank. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and other surveys, abortion rates in Scandinavia, U.K. and France rate as high as 20-30 percent, Germany, Finland and Benelux 11-14 percent. Since abortion was first legalized in the 1970s, Germany has removed 120,000 annually, France around 200,000, Netherlands 30,000, Norway 15,000 yearly and Sweden 35,000. Tally the numbers; they are massive.

In the U.S., over 50 million have been lost to abortion since 1960, according to former Newsweek editor Jon Meacham in what he calls “The end of Christian America.” If you add the pictures of the screaming women, fuming with anger and rage in pro-abortion parades, you know you are watching the end of a culture. No childless society can survive.

[...]

When looking at demographics, it is only a question of time before the traditional European becomes a minority in Europe. We may guess that this is what the progressive feminists wanted: The end of their bloodline.

Nicely code-worded, don't you think?


Posted by Terry K. at 11:11 AM EDT
Saturday, June 30, 2018
CNS Lets Documented Liar Aryeh Spero Pretend He Cares About The Truth
Topic: CNSNews.com

For some reason, CNSNews.com really, really loves loopy right-wing, Obama conspiracy-obsessed rabbi Aryeh Spero. Now, it's given Spero another platform in the form a June 21 article by intern Jonathan Mizrahi, in which he is allowed to complain that the likening of immigrant detention enters to Nazi concentration camps is "abhorrent" -- but is really acting as a (as far as we know) unpaid shill defending President Trump's zero-tolerance border policy:

“The Nazis separated families as part of a first phase of forced labor and murder of Jews, an entire race,” said Rabbi Spero.  “We, in contrast, are taking care of these children ---perhaps better than they're normally taken care of --- during the limited days of necessary investigation.”

“No animus is intended on our part or on the part of President Trump, Attorney General Sessions, or the Department of Homeland Security,” said Spero.  “Mr. Hayden's offense was not simply against Holocaust survivors and those murdered but America itself.”

“It is unethical to make accusations that are lies and purposely degrading,” said the rabbi.  “One wonders how a man with such lack of judgment, clarity and common sense was head of the NSA and CIA? Just another Deep Stater (a ‘Deeper’) who places politics above truth.”

Funny how Spero is suddently concerned about ethics and the truth when he himself is an unethical liar. We've caught him lying about President Obama and his relationship with Israel, as well as spreading the malicious falsehood that George Soros was in "collaboration with the Nazis in Hungary during WW II."

Needless to say, Mizrahi didn't mention Spero's history of politically motivated fabrication amid his hypocritical attacks on those who place "politics above truth."


Posted by Terry K. at 10:03 AM EDT
WND Revives Never-Proven Conspiracy About Bill Clinton's Purported Illegitimate Son
Topic: WorldNetDaily

During the 2016 election, WorldNetDaily got a bit of mileage by partnering with discredited charalatan filmmaker Joel Gilbert to resurrect the tale of Danney Williams, the purported illegitimate son of Bill Clinton. Williams was so obviously being exploited by Gilbert as part of his politically motivated vendetta against the Clintons that nobody took the claim seriously, just as they did when the claim first surfaced in the 1990s among anti-Clinton activists.

Well, you can't keep a ridiculous, never-proven conspiracy down, so WND is continuing to prove it learned nothing from its recent near-death experience and giving the Williams story another go. An anonymous WND writer claimed in a June 19 article:

On the occasion of Father’s Day, Danney Williams, 32, is still hoping Bill Clinton will take a paternity test that will prove he is the Dad who never acknowledged him.

On Sunday he retweeted several Father’s Day suggestions to Clinton to resolve the paternity issue that has been Williams’ lifelong quest.

Williams made an emotional plea to Clinton intern Monica Lewinsky to turn over her famous blue dress that reportedly contained a sample of the former president’s genetic material. He also pleaded with then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to intercede on his behalf.

Needless to say, WND couldn't be bothered to find out if Williams is still mouthing the words Gilbert put in front of him. The article also ignored one inconvenient fact: A DNA test has already been conducted, by a tabloid in 1999 and promoted by the Drudge Report, which found no genetic link.

Instead of feeding its 20-year obsession with destroying the Clintons, WND would be better served -- and prove it's a news operation that deserves to live -- by exposing the expoitation of Williams by right-wing charlatans.


Posted by Terry K. at 12:05 AM EDT
Friday, June 29, 2018
MRC Complains Media Credits Krauthammer For Something Conservatives Used To Be Proud Of
Topic: Media Research Center

The death of conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer set off all the feels at his ideological buddies at the Media Research Center. So, needless to say, they took things in a weird direction by bashing the media for highlighting something that conservatives used to be proud of.

Nicholas Fondacaro complained in a June 21 post about Washington Post's obituary on Krauthammer:

[T]he paper’s obituary editor, Adam Bernstein found that Krauthammer’s life could be boiled down to his position on the Iraq War. “Charles Krauthammer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist and intellectual provocateur who championed the muscular foreign policy of neoconservatism that helped lay the ideological groundwork for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq,b died June 21 at 68,” he BEGAN the paper’s remembrance, setting the tone.

"He was festooned with honors by right-leaning groups and sought after by Republican policymakers,” Bernstein continued. “ To the left, Dr. Krauthammer was a bogeyman, most notably on the matter of President George W. Bush’s ‘war on terror’ and the ultimately catastrophic efforts to democratize the Middle East.”

Bernstein tried to place the war dead at Krauthammer’s feet, saying:

The U.S.-led invasion, which Dr. Krauthammer billed at the outset as a “Three Week War,” has dragged on ever since, caused more than 4,000 U.S. deaths and more than 100,000 Iraqi casualties amid a grinding insurgency, and left the United States mired in a failed state with hostile neighbors.

Fondacaro never explained why linking Krauthammer to the Iraq War was a bad thing, let alone inaccurate. Instead, he huffed: "Dr. Charles Krauthammer was a prolific intellectual and he will be missed by many."

The next day, Richard Howell similarly complained that an MSNBC's Brian Williams "was unable to resist laying blame for the Iraq War at the feet of the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer." He further complained:

More accurately, Krauthammer postulated that history might remember the invasion as the “Three Week War” and wrote those words the day after troops had occupied Baghdad after three weeks of invasion. Strangely, Williams felt necessary to point this out, and seemed to lay blame for the conflict on Krauthammer. It's particularly ironic since Williams was removed as NBC Nightly News anchor for falsely reporting on his own experiences in Iraq. 

In an otherwise praising obituary, it was jarring to hear Williams shade Krauthammer's views on Iraq. Perhaps the MSNBC host was simply following The Washington Post's lead, which made sure to include Krauthammer's support for the war in the opening sentence of its obituary of him on Thursday.

Like Fondadcaro, Howell didn't explain why it's such a horrible thing to mention Krauthammer's intellectual foundation for the Iraq War. When did the MRC cease being proud of it?


Posted by Terry K. at 2:06 PM EDT
Speaking Of A Dehumanizing Rhetorical Cesspool...
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Erik Rush writes in his June 20 WorldNetDaily column:

One need not look too far to find an instance of some prominent liberal unleashing a mouthful of profane derision upon someone who has given them offense for one reason or another. These days, this sort of thing has been chiefly reserved for President Donald Trump and members of his family, although practically anyone who runs afoul of leftist orthodoxy is very much considered fair game.

Personally, I don’t have much of a problem with scathing criticism of one’s political opponents, particularly if they are decidedly odious or perennially mouthy individuals. I also find it gratifying that President Trump is the only chief executive in modern times who has the ability and the inclination to dish out in kind what he so often receives from his detractors.

That said, it doesn’t take a dedicated news junkie to make the determination that there has been a rapid deterioration of decorum within our political discourse in recent years. 

Rush, however, doesn't specifically cop to his role in that "rapid deterioration of decorum within our political discourse."

You might recall that Rush infamously likened Barack Obama to a prison rapist, to name nadir of his still-untreated Obama Derangement Syndrome. We mostly stopped paying attention to Rush a long time ago, as his fact-free ranting dragged on -- something pretty much everyone has done, given his media outlets have effectrively dwindled to WND.

Of course, Rush's vile lack of decorum (and factual accuracy) is the reason nobody else but WND will publish him these days.


Posted by Terry K. at 1:03 AM EDT
Thursday, June 28, 2018
CNS Still Publishing False Trump Admin Claims Without Fact-Checking
Topic: CNSNews.com

CNSNews.com loves to uncritically present false or misleading statements from the Trump White House as undisputed fact, refusing to subject them to even the most basic level of fact-checking. This happened again in a June 18 CNS article by Susan Jones.

Jones starts off by highlighting the "flurry of tweets" from President Trump in response to the "Monday-morning media hysteria about children being 'ripped' from their mothers or fathers when that parent crosses the border illegally," one of those claims being that it's the Democrats' fault that the Trump administration is separating families at the border due to some unspecified law, not Trump's.

In fact, as an actual news outlet that did an actual fact-check pointed out: "Immigrant families are being separated at the border not because of Democrats and not because some law forces this result, as Trump insists. They’re being separated because the Trump administration, under its zero-tolerance policy, is choosing to prosecute border-crossing adults for any offenses.

Jones also uncritically repeated Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's assertion that, in Jones' words, "there is no policy of separating families at the border, as long as they are seeking asylum at ports of entry." In fact, as the above fact-check also noted, it is, in fact, a Trump policy because Trump is blaming the Democrats for it and Attorney General Jeff Sessions is defending it. Further, immigrants seeking asylum at ports of entry are routinely turned away because of the volume of people doing so.

Oddly, the same day as Jones' article appeared, an article by Melanie Arter reporting on other Nielsen statements referenced Trump's "zero-tolerance policy" as, you know, an actual policy. Even then, Arter gave Nielsen a pass on misleading rhetoric, uncritically repeating her claim that "the Obama administration, the Bush administration all separated families" at the border.

In fact, while some families were separated, the Bush and Obama administrations had no blanket policy mandating family separation, as the current Trump zero-tolerance policy does.


Posted by Terry K. at 11:21 PM EDT
NEW ARTICLE: WND's Book Bargain
Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily remains alive for the time being, but now it wants you to give it even more money to publish editor Joseph Farah's new book (though you can already buy it in digital form). Read more >>

Posted by Terry K. at 1:26 PM EDT
MRC's Graham Whines About Liberal Advocacy News Operations, Forgets MRC Runs CNS
Topic: Media Research Center

Smell Tim Graham's hypocrisy in this June 19 Media Research Center post:

Matthew Ingram at the left-wing Columbia Journalism Review is touting the hot new trend in “changing the landscape” of the liberal media: liberal advocacy groups developing their own reporting teams, often by recruiting people who wrote stories for the “mainstream” press.

Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and Greenpeace have created their own “news rooms” because “they’re looking for impact. That agenda may coincide with the news, and they may use traditional journalistic techniques to advance it, but in most cases the larger goal of this work is in service of some kind of policy change or other action, and not information or the public record per se.”

First: Graham offers no evidence whatsoever that the Columbia Journalism Review is "left-wing." Second: Graham seems to have missed that the trend of advocacy groups beginning their own "news" operations began on his side (i.e. the Heritage Foundation's Daily Signal).

In fact, all he has to do is look dodwn the hall at MRC headquarters to see a prime example of it: his organization's own CNSNews.com. It certainly has promotion of an agenda hs a much higher priority than reporting news. Graham cannot seriously claim otherwise.

Instead, Graham sneered that "Conservatives would say most major newspapers and TV networks are more interested in advancing an genda [sic] than putting 'information on the public record per se.'" Of course, Graham is paid to say such silly things -- and he would never say that (in public, anywawy) about right-wing advocacy "news" operations like CNS.


Posted by Terry K. at 12:45 AM EDT
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Another WND Columnist Tries His Hand At Promoting Manliness
Topic: WorldNetDaily

WorldNetDaily columnists' quest for manliness continues with Larry Tomazak's June 13 column, in which he declares that "God is calling for men to rise up to fulfill our destinies as authentic men aligned with His master plan for true manliness" and goes on to assert:

Today families are in crisis. Fatherlessness is epidemic. Along with it is a parallel problem: a crisis of American manhood.

On college campuses we even have classes called “Rethink Masculinity” pushed by leftists and feminists to eradicate what they call “toxic masculinity.” Proponents don’t present a positive alternative of manly virtue focused on faith, family and female love and protection, but rather neuter men until real masculinity is air-brushed away! Gullible guys become men without chests, resembling the weird “Pat” character of by-gone “Saturday Night Live” comedy skits.

Tomczak the denounces the "Macho Man," the "Marshmallow Man" ("a passive wimp ...  a renegade having reneged on his duty to be a man’s man reflecting the image of Christ") and the "Mixed-up Man" ("a sad specimen ... embodying feminine and masculine traits. He may be a homosexual or projects a 'metrosexual' image") before declaring Jesus to be the embodiment of perfect manhood, complete with bullet points:

  • Imagine what 20 years of carpentry work did for His muscular development.
  • He walked miles in the grueling sun and then ministered to crowds of thousands, addressing them without amplification.
  • Visualize Jesus grabbing a whip, overturned tables and driving out money changers from the Temple.
  • Picture those “boys on the dock,” burly fishermen dropping their nets to follow Him.
  • Use your sanctified imagination to ponder His horrific flogging and enduring the infamous crucifixion depicted vividly in Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ.”
  • You might recall that Tomczak had a massive freakout over a Taylor Swift video -- effectively arguing that women should wear burqas -- and despised the film "Love, Simon" for committing the offense of treating gays like regular people.


    Posted by Terry K. at 10:02 PM EDT
    CNS' Jones In Full Suck-Up Mode for Trump
    Topic: CNSNews.com

    CNSNews.com reporter Susan Jones has long been a pro-Trump sycophant. She took that sycophancy to a new level in a June 12 article, in which she marveled at Trump's civility in a press conference. Under the headline "No 'Fake News': Trump Holds Calm, Courteous News Conference in Singapore," Jones gushed:

    "I haven't slept in 25 hours," President Trump told a 4 a.m. EDT news conference in Singapore following his historic summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

    Nevertheless, the president spoke to reporters for more than an hour, never using the term "fake news," although he did admit he was apprehensive about taking their questions.

    "So it is an honor to be with everybody today, the media -- it's a big gathering of media, I will say -- makes me feel very uncomfortable, but it is what it is. People understand that this is something very important to all of us, including yourselves and your families, so thank you very much for being here."

    Amazingly, at the end of the news conference, the president was applauded as he walked off the stage.

    [...]

    Several reporters prefaced their questions by congratulating the president on his historic summit with Kim. Trump thanked them.

    Jones emphasized the applause for Trump at the end of her article, in which she transcribed Trump's final statement, following by the line "(Applause.)"

    That sycophancy is embarassing, even for a right-wing journalists. Then again, CNS paid her to write it and published it as is.


    Posted by Terry K. at 3:00 PM EDT

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